The present invention relates to surface treating machines in general, and more particularly to driving, supervision and control arrangements for floor maintenance machines.
There are already known various constructions of floor maintenance machines, such as sweeping, vacuuming, shampooing or similar machines which are in many instances equipped with tools which contact the surface being treated to loosen or pick up soil or dirt deposited thereon and which are moved by a drive including an electric motor or the like with respect to the machine housing and hence also relative and along the surface being treated or maintained as the machine moves over the same. Some of these conventional machines are even equipped with various devices which allow supervision or control of the operation of the motor or of the tool, such as a torque control device, a tool wear indicating device or a device for terminating the operation of the machine when the tool or the motor has been blocked.
Such devices are particularly useful in machines in which the tool or tools rotate relative to the machine housing, particularly when the tool is a rotatable, especially cylindrical, brush, since then the problems of tool blockage, excessive torque and rapid tool wear are especially pronounced and may go unnoticed, which may result in loss of effectiveness of, or even damage to, the machine. Yet, the heretofore machines of this type are equipped only with some of the above devices, and the devices themselves are rather complex.